Problem: Simplify the following expression: $p = \dfrac{n^2 + 10n + 16}{n + 8} $
First factor the polynomial in the numerator. $ n^2 + 10n + 16 = (n + 8)(n + 2) $ So we can rewrite the expression as: $p = \dfrac{(n + 8)(n + 2)}{n + 8} $ We can divide the numerator and denominator by $(n + 8)$ on condition that $n \neq -8$ Therefore $p = n + 2; n \neq -8$